Halle Berry Snags Distribution For ‘Kidnap’, ‘Extant’ Star To Begin Shooting Film This Fall, Will Film Make Oscar Cutoff?

While it's been a slow start for distribution deals at the Toronto International Film Festival, a relatively big one was just made for Relativity Media. The company just purchased distribution rights for Halle Berry's latest project, "Kidnap." With production set for this fall, and plot that's contains Oscar bait style drama, will the film be released in time for a possible Oscar nomination for Berry?

According to Deadline, "as we wait for the acquisition titles here at Toronto to get moving, Relativity has scored its second deal for a film not in the festival. Relativity has closed U.S. distribution rights to the Lotus Entertainment thriller ‘Kidnap', which stars Halle Berry and will be directed by Luis Prieto from a script by Knate Gwaltney. Production on the thriller begins this fall. This follows Relativity's deal on the fest's opening day for Woman In Black 2, which is in the can."

Indiewire describes ‘Kidnap' as, "a heart-stopping action thriller," that "will follow a mother (Berry) who will stop at nothing to rescue her kidnapped son." This plot resembles the Oscar winning film "Changeling" which got Angelina Jolie her Best Actress nomination. Could the same situation happen for the "Extant" actress?

Halle Berry already made history at the Academy Awards as she became the first African-American actress to win Best Actress. A second win for her seems possible in that sense. But given that the cutoff date, according to the official Oscar rules, is December 31st, 2014, it would be a serious crunch for post-production.

Nevertheless, if the film doesn't make it out until 2015, if the script can open up space for Halle Berry to show her skills, there's a good chance it may be something to see at the 2016 Academy Awards. Until more news is released about "Kidnap," fans can catch the award winning actress in "Extant," which is available for viewing on Amazon Instant Video.